Improvement in fences



UNITED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

IMPROVEMENT IN FENCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 51,691, dated December26, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, THOMAS R. BYRNEs, of the city and county ofWashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a newand usefulImprovement in Fences; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which are made part of this specication, and inwhich- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved fence. Fig. 2 is adetached view, showing, in perspective, one of the battens or uprightpieces of the fence. Figs. 3 and 4 are top views of two ot the railsdetached. y

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention is designed with a view to render unnecessar the diggingot' postLholes and the employment of nails or similar devices in theconstruction of a fence which has all the requisites of a neat, cheap,and strong farm-inclosure, and which does not necessarily involve theskill of a special mechanic to build it.

To this end the rails of my improved fence are disposed in zigzag form,like the common country worin-fence; but the rails, instead ot' beingsupported by lying upon one another, as in the ordinary worm-fence, restin notches in the battens or upright pieces, and are themselves notchedand crossed between each pair of adjacent battens in such a way as to befirmly and securely interlocked and adapted to withstand great lateralforce.

The following description will enable others skilled in the art to whichmy invention appertains to fully understand and use the same.

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent the battens or uprightpieces of the fence,

and B B the horizontal rails. At the corner of the fence a post, C, isemployed tojoin the fences, which run at right angles to each other, therails adjoining the post being connected therewith by the usual mortiseand tenon; but elsewhere the entire fence is composed of the battens Aand rails B. The battens A are notched, as shown at a, to give thenecessary vertical support to the rails B, and the rails B are notchedat b to support the parts longitudinally or brace them in the directionin which the fence runs. The battens are placed out of' line. In otherWords, they do not stand in a plane at right angles to a line drawnbetween the corners of the fence, or from post to post. Hence the railsB, in being set in their appropriate notches in the battens A, areadapted to have their ends crossed between the two adjacent battens andinterlocked, as clearly represented in the drawings.

The form of the notches in the rails B is more clearly represented inFig. 3, said notches having each a shoulder to hold the battens againsthorizontal displacement. The rail represented in Fig. 3 would have itsplace in either ofthe alternate sections of the fence, beginning withthe first, but position ot' the notches on the respective sides of therails is reversed in those constituting the intervening sections, as isshown iu Fig. 4. This difference in the disposition of the notches isonly necessary where the fence has the zigzag form represented in thedrawings, for it is apparent that in a circula-r fence constructed uponthis general plan the rails may be all notched alike.

It is manifest that a circular fence can be made ofthe rails and battenswithout departing from the essential principle of my invention, as itconsists simply in notching the rails and battens and interlocking' orconnecting them in the manner shown.

In a fence constructed as above described the bat-tens and rails havesufticient support without the employment of posts inserted in theground.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The fence herein described, the same consisting ofthe notched battens oruprights A and notched rails B, connected or interlocked, substantiallyas described.

THOMAS B. BYRNES.

Witnesses:

ALEXR. A. C. KLAUCKE, JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIM.

